Eclectic Sounds of New Jersey, Echoing From Coast to Coast

By BRIAN WISE

Published: February 8, 2004

IN the song ''Hackensack'' by the band Fountains of Wayne, a hardwood floor installer longs for the girl on whom he had a crush in grade school; she has since moved to California to become a movie star. He promises the girl, who is unaware of his feelings, that when she tires of her celebrity life, ''If you ever get back to Hackensack/I'll be here for you.''

With that poignant refrain, the song portrays the unfulfilled desires and dreams of suburban New Jersey. These themes have been part of the state's rock n' roll traditions since Bruce Springsteen began eulogizing the boardwalks and boarded-up storefronts of Asbury Park in the early 1970's; they are receiving their most recent replay in the music of Fountains of Wayne, one of whose founders is a Montclair native.

But these themes have national resonance, speaking to an ever growing suburban audience. This explains why Fountains of Wayne broke into the national consciousness last year through its album ''Welcome Interstate Managers'' with songs like ''Hackensack'' and ''Stacy's Mom,'' a top 40 hit last summer that received substantial airplay on MTV. It may also explain why this year, so many New Jersey artists, among them Fountains of Wayne, have been favored by nominations for Grammy Awards, to be presented tonight in Los Angeles.

Fountains of Wayne, named for a store on Route 46 that sells kitschy lawn ornaments and patio furniture, has been nominated for the best new artist award. It has also been nominated for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals for ''Stacy's Mom,'' a tale of geeky teenager lust.

Two veteran New Jersey rockers are also up for awards: Mr. Springsteen, for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals for his guest appearance on the late Warren Zevon's album ''The Wind,'' and the band Bon Jovi for its single ''Misunderstood,'' competing against Fountains of Wayne for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals.

Other New Jersey artists are also contenders at the Grammys this year. Although their music is not associated with the themes of suburban angst and small-town struggles, they reflect the musical diversity of the state and its strong local music scenes -- from Asbury Park to Hoboken and New Brunswick--that inspire a constant influx of new artists.

Nominated in various jazz categories are the saxophonist and Newark native Wayne Shorter; the pianist Keith Jarrett, from western New Jersey; the percussionist and Newark resident Stefon Harris; and the pianist, composer and arranger Jim McNeely, of Montclair, has been nominated for best instrumental arrangement for an album by Renee Rosnes and the Danish Radio Big Band.

Meanwhile, Robert Randolph of Morristown has been nominated for best rock gospel album for ''Unclassified,'' a visceral mix of gospel, blues and steel guitar sounds. Howard Tate, from southern New Jersey, is in the running for best contemporary blues album for his comeback release ''Rediscovered.'' Mr. Randolph and Mr. Tate also illustrate how the state's musicians historically have embraced eclectic musical genres, creating something new in the process.

Adam Schlesinger, from Montclair, and Chris Collingwood, of Sellersville, Pa., formed Fountains of Wayne in the late 1980's. The band also includes Jody Porter, a guitarist, and Brian Young, the drummer. After two albums of catchy character portraits, they released ''Welcome Interstate Managers'' in 2003. The album's songs tell the stories of office clerks, waitresses and middle-management nobodies, using New Jersey and surrounding states as a backdrop.

Mr. Schlesinger, 36, the band's bass player, points to universal qualities in New Jersey life that have meaning in other parts of the country.

''Northern New Jersey, where I grew up, has a strange and complicated relationship with New York City, and that's an angle I like to examine,'' he said in a telephone interview. ''But we write about other places on the eastern seaboard as well. I guess the main point is that a large percentage of Americans live in suburbs or outskirts, rather than in cities, and so many people can identify with a song set in a place like that.''

Robert Santelli, director of programs for the Seattle-based rock museum, Experience Music Project, and a New Jersey-born journalist, said Mr. Springsteen helped bring New Jersey to the mainstream.

''Springsteen understood right from the start that New Jersey possessed this sense of New Jersey being a microcosm of America,'' he said. ''If you can have an intimacy with characters and settings and place in New Jersey, at the same time, there's a universality about it because it represented America in general.''

But Mr. Santelli added that Fountains of Wayne builds on the images of working-class life, popularized by Mr. Springsteen, to add a portrait of more upscale suburban life.

''There's the blue-collar, street punk, tough guy kind of image,'' he explained. ''Of course, it's only been perpetuated with 'The Sopranos' and so much more. Over time, that grows stale, and today there are new interpretations on the state of New Jersey, ones that are more relevant.''

In purely musical terms, Fountains of Wayne follows two strands of New Jersey rock, said Gary Wein, author of ''Beyond The Palace,'' a history of the Asbury Park music scene.